GM/Biotech Crops Monthly Report January 2018

Silencing mRNA offers hope to sufferers of Huntindon’s disease

University College London has started trials that seem successful in controlling the development of Huntingdon’s disease by injecting mRNA-silencing genes into patients’ spines. It is early days but some hope that it may also be a successful method of treating other diseases such as Parkinson’s and possibly some dementias. More

Pic Source:AJ Cann

Single infusion cures patients of haemophilia A

Some people are born without the instructions to form Factor VIII which is needed to make the blood clot to stop bleeding. Now a single injection of a genetically engineered virus that carries the instructions has cured these patients. More

Pic Source: Mate Marschalko

Drought-resistant energy crops

Many drought –resistant plants have a common set of genes responsible for drought-tolerance and now the task is to engineer these into energy crops. More

Pic Source: dasroofless

Flowering and root development linked in wheat and barley

Researchers at Queensland University have discovered that one of the genes that controls flowering in wheat and barley that also has a significant effect on rooting depth. It illustrates how each gene can be multifunctional. More

Pic Source: O.S.U.

Arabidopsis improves disease resistance in strawberries

By over-expressing some Arabidopsis genes in strawberries a team from Florida University have improved resistance to crown rot and powdery mildew with the prospect that it could reduce the frequency of fungicide applications in commercial crops. More

Pic Source: Dave Briggs

Could genetic engineering combat global warming?

Researchers at Max Plank Institute have succeeded in engineering bacteria to produce rubisco, the photosynthetic enzyme that fixes CO2 from the atmosphere. Now they need to find a way of using this knowledge, perhaps on filters attached to CO2 producing facilities such as power plants. More

Pic Source: xklima

Reduced Botrytis susceptibility in potatoes and tomatoes

Scientists at Wageningen have used RNAi to silence DND1 genes in potatoes and tomatoes which has reduced their susceptibility to develop botrytis infections. Could this be developed into a field spray? More

Pic Source: Stanska Malupplevelser

More promising developments for control of human diseases

Researchers at SALK University have developed a new version of CRISPr-Cas9 editing that introduces switches rather than cuts in the target DNA. They have used the technique to successfully treated diabetes, kidney disease and muscular dystrophy in mice. They also suggest that it might be possible to reverse aging and treat aging diseases such as macular degeneration and hearing loss! More

Pic Source: Michaeldauld54

Tenfold fibre increase in wheat

If Shredded Wheat is good for you, wait until they make it with high amylose wheat now being grown in America. It has ten times the fibre content of regular wheat and is achieved by reducing the activity of two enzymes. More

Pic Source: Operation_Janet

Immortal Plant Cells

The John Innes Centre have discovered a mechanism by which germ cells in plants achieve ‘immortality’ by a process of demethylation and also comment that similar mechanisms are also know to occur in some animal cells. More

Pic Source: Silva Chuva

THE LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE GM/BIOTECH DATABASE ARE:

MON87427 x MON89034 x TC1507 x MON87411 x 59122 – maize with resistance to Coleopteran and Lepidopteran insects and tolerance of glyphosate and glufosinate approved for food use in Taiwan.

SYHT0H2 – soybean with glufosinate and mesotrione herbicide tolerance approved for food, feed and cultivation use in Argentina.

MZHG0JG – maize with glufosinate and glyphosate tolerance approved for food and feed use in South Korea.

Bt11 x MIR162 x MON89034 x GA21 – maize with Lepidopteran insect resistance and tolerance of glyphosate and glufosinate approved for feed use in South Korea (food use is already approved!).

MON89034 x TC1507 x NK603 x MIR162 – maize with Lepidopteran insect resistance and tolerance of glyphosate and glufosinate approved for food use in South Korea.

MON87708 x MON89788 x A5547-127 – soybean with tolerance of glufosinate, glyphosate and dicamba approved for food use in South Korea.

MS11 – oilseed rape with glufosinate tolerance approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand.

F10 – potato with reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand and for food, feed and environmental use in Canada.

J3 – potato with reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand.

W8 – potato with Blight resistance, reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand.

X17 – potato with Blight resistance, reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand.

Y9 – potato with Blight resistance, reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand.

New transformation event – E56 – potato with reduced acrylamide potential and reduced black spot approved for food use in Australia and New Zealand